Special Teams: The Last Browns Playoff Game

the biggest games and football, baseball, basketball history. And we have another big NFL playoff game to break down today, and one with a name on it. Well, it doesn't really have a name, but you can title it. When you can title a playoff game, it's a big deal. And we're gonna look back at the most recent Browns playoff game, which of course was in two thousand and three. But it is that the uh colon, it's been a minute, it's been a bit been but well I haven't seen you.

How you doing. Oh well, you know, I moved away after college and won the lottery and got married and uh uh that look well, you look like you put on a little bit of weight. You still got the Brown helmets. You've done nothing about that. Now it's Brenda and Nettie getting together at the scenes from an Italian restaurant after all those years. But this game was legendary, a game in which the Steelers hold on to beat the Browns thirty six thirty three. Both teams quarterbacks did

not have long tenures. Uh. It was full of incredible twists and turns, and the Browns nearly pulled off a huge upset. Potentially you could say they just needed one more second on the clock. Two thousand and three the Steelers and the Browns January five, Hines Field start time one oh one pm. But before we get to this, how did both of these teams get to this point

of the season. For the Pittsburgh Steelers, you're thinking, oh, was that roethlisbritt No, this was pre Ben Roethlisberger, in which the Steelers two years before, in two thousand and two, in their draft had a huge draft. You would think, okay, right, no, no, no. In this draft Antoine Randall, l Chris Hope, Brett Keisel. They signed James Harrison as an undrafted free agent. These are players who would go on to be building box

and lynchpins of great Steelers teams of the future. I mean, I would love the Larry Foot to otherwise White's gonna come get you. No, that's okay. Anytime I bring up Michigan football, now whether she's just kind of blows it off because they can't beat Ohio State, so you know, she's kind of just okay, Well, do you just walk in and throw khaki pants at or now just to torture no words. Yeah, I need those good khaki pants and Lulu lemon, all right, so get those for me

because those all where they're like bucks. Uh, Christmas is coming. But this situation at quarterback for the Steelers coming into the year was it was Cordel Stewart's team, all right. Cordel Stewart was the dual option quarterback of the millennium. Now every team wants a player like Cordell Stewart, but he was the guy. He and Randall Cunningham were credit as being the quarterbacks to show everybody, Hey, you know what these guys can do a lot. Don't worry about

them being one dimensional. They can throw the football, they can make plays with their legs. That's who Cordel Stewart was. Cordel Stewart was fantastic. He was the Offensive player of the Year in two thousand and one. But since he came into the league as slash, because he came in all right, maybe he's not a quarterback that you can play wide receiver, running back. He made his mark being able to do all of these things in the late nineties. He could throw the football once in a while, but

he's a good wide receiver. Finally, the Steelers said we're gonna put him at quarterback, and Cordel Stewart was terrific. But it was a roller coaster ride. Some years he was really good. Some games he was really good, but still he made too many mistakes. He had been on this ride with Cordel Stewart since seven In fact, one year he lost a job to Kent Graham before he got it back, but his talent allowed him to stay around a long time, and he goes into this season

as the starting quarterback of the Pittsburgh Steelers. However, against Cleveland in Week four, he throws a really bad pick in the double coverage into the end zone, and for Bill Kauer, this was the last straw. This was I'm done and we are going to Tommy Maddox at quarterback. Maddox, who would come into this year with a lot of hype behind him. He hadn't thrown a pass in the NFL since n but resurrected his career with big season the XFL and two thousand and one. Hey, maybe this

guy can play well. He was someone who Steelers fans were always itching to see, can this guy play quarterback? You know, Cordel Stewart, the turnovers. I want to pull my hair out. Let's see if Tommy Maddox can play again, a guy who hadn't thrown a pass in the NFL since and Steelers fans are saying, boy, really hope Tommy Maddis can get it done for us? Well, you always love an underdog story. I mean he got you a xfluh. He did Fantasy Time XFL Fantasy title him and Joe

Asca and Jose Cortez. I still remember a lot of the good players on my Cortes was automatic. But but we look at the way this roster was constructed, and certainly for Tommy Maddox, Cordell Stewart, and you look at the schedule, man, no, no favors that you have a week three by like, that's just stupid. But that was the schedule that they had here. They eke out that narrow win against the Browns at home in Week four and just shift trying to see if you can jump

start the offense. Right. You mentioned the arrival of Antoine Randall l You know, knowing that you now have a guy with with great aptitude and YAK potential, you gotta figure out how to get the ball in his hands, get creative and you're still knowing Bill Cower want to have that power running game working and find that balance. But what's the best way and to really get that off is to have a little more efficiency from the QB position. This is a guy who was drafted in

where Joe Thiseman. Other analysts said, oh my goodness, we we you know, why are you drafting this kid? He's not ready out of U c l A. Jimmy Johnson did a bit where he said in college, we would call him turn over Tommy. You know you always get him to throw the football. T I mean, this is a guy who came in and he's drafted in ninety two by the Broncos to be the air apparent to John Elway. Of course that doesn't work out. He leaves the NFL to be an insurance salesman. He left. He

was done in the NFL. He's done, he wasn't gonna do anymore. But when he got asked to play in the Arena Football League just before the XFL started, he sells his insurance business and says, I'm gonna get football another shot. And he gets back in and he by crazy circumstances meaning Cordell Stewart being unable to stop throwing your studs, he gets the starting job with the Steelers, and he goes on a big run and the Steelers go to the playoffs and they wind up with eleven

five and one record. After it's all said and done, Maddox has a big year and suddenly Maddox is the guy. After a journey in which it took him eleven years to get to this point, he winds up being the quarterback. In fact, they believed in him so much that Maddox got hurt late in this year before they get to the playoffs, he misses two games. Cordel Stewart comes in and wins both of them, and he plays really well, and you're like, Okay, well, Cordel Stewart's gonna get the

job back because it was his job. Nope, Bill Coward says, thanks, Cordell, you're on the bench, and Tommy Maddox is our guy. So much so they kept Maddox and they waved Cordel Stewart after the season. That's how much they were stuck on making that move to Tommy Maddox, who after eleven short years suddenly becomes a household name. Well, I wanted him to stick around, and while he was there for

another three years in some capacity. Yeah, just a curious Uh, that's one of those let's stand out with Bill Cower and let's talk about those times, right, because he was even there when Roethlisberger comes into the league and as their first round pick in two thousand four and touchdown, Tommy's still there. Tommy Maddox was in again. I mean really, he was like Ryan Fitzpatrick. Accept it took him even longer to get the starting job again, but that that's

that's kind of who Tommy Maddox was. He but he gets to stick around, right, two thousand two goes seven, three and one, but the touchdown the interception ratio is twenty to sixteen. Yeah, yeah, yeah, And then the following year they go six and ten, showing how this works. Eighteen and seventeen is the touchdown the interception, right, thus prompting the drafting of Roethlisberger, but still just showing they had a lot of faith that he was still gonna

bail him out. They win the a f C North, which is brand new that year as first a f C North. So they win at ten five and one. They go to the playoffs, where right, it was, okay, how is this gonna work out? Now? And look, I was glad to get the Indianapolis Colts out of the division because I'm like, I don't want Peyton Manning beating the crap out of us for all these years. Uh. And they faced the Cleveland Browns, still to this day

their most recent playoff appearance. Butch Davis is the head coach, and the season started for them and ended for them in well, the way the season started should have told you how the season was gonna end, because it began with what a big famous play in Brown's history where Morton Anderson is kicking for the Chiefs and he misses a field goal that would win the game for them, So the Browns are gonna win. Dwayne Rudd, who was a linebacker for the Browns, took his helmet off on

the field after the missfield goal to celebrate. This is back when taking your helmet off on the field was a penalty that they enforced very strictly. So Dwayne Rudd takes his helmet off. It's a fifteen yard penalty, so Morton Anderson gets a much easier chance. He makes the field goal, and they win the game for nine. You should have own this is the kind of year we're gonna be in for with the Cleveland Browns after the season started that way. It's never boring with the Browns.

I mean it never has been. There's always some curiosity, uh, to keep us guessing because I mean, here, here's a couple of random stats for you to kind of frame what we're talking about here and how important this playoff run was for the Cleveland Browns. Uh. Since two thousand three, there have been ten head coaches since Butch Davis welcome in Kevin Stefanski. Uh. Twenty quarterbacks have started a game

since that year. Forget about Yeah, it's just unbelievable. Uh So this year, though, the Browns kind of become the new Cardiac kids. This was such a roller coach of season and they won five games in the final two minutes. This was Tim Couch's best season as a Browns quarterback. Eighteen touchdowns, eighteen picks, the best year. Well, everybody in this episode is on the was a former Bear. Cordial Stewart was on Bears everybod. No, no, look, I've told

you that Cordell Stewart's story. I told it to him once. When my uncle passed away. We found out that it might have been after a particularly excruciating loss to the Vikings, and my cousin in the funeral services attributed it to Cordell Stewart. Wow, yeah, you told him that story. Yeah, Oh my god, he didn't hit, you know, Oh my goodness. Well you gotta frame it right. Yeah, no, I know, but still, hey, you know he got and he blamed and I did it. I did it the concise way.

Here for Odd Special Teams podcast. This was not on air. This was I was doing bits with him, and uh, you know, but good humor. Yeah, I'm glad he did. I'm glad for you that he did, because I didn't start cursing in the other my fist day. I don't want but I wouldn't want to hear that story. If I would want to hear that, Oh, come on, it's kind of funny. But for Tim Couch, I mean, this is what I mean by being the CARDI yeat kids. Couch never lived up to expectations at all. He beats

Jacksonville with a hail Mary pass. Right, he beats the Jets with a touchdown pass and a two point conversion, the craziest two point conversion in the final minute that I shook my head going, oh my god, we just lost to the Browns in that way. Um. They actually dedicated that game to Al Learner, the team owner, who died very suddenly in the middle of the season. I remember Tim Couch grabbing the football and all the players stood in the middle of the field and held fingers

up to the sky. They dedicate that win to him. But despite all this excitement, Tim Couch like, like I said, this was his best season. But still it was eighteen touchdowns, eighteen picks. He gets booed because he just wasn't the quarterback you expect a guy drafted number one overall to b He had had injury problems, he had never been productive enough. In fact, this season, here's how it started for Tim Couch. And the Browns. Couch hurches elbow, so

he can't play the first two games. So backup Kelly Holcom, who comes into this podcast in a large way in a couple of minutes, winds up starting the first two games. But Kelly Holcomb breaks his leg, so then Couch takes over. Couch plays well enough throughout the course of the season to keep the Browns in playoff contention, but he breaks his leg in the final game. Cleveland still wins thanks to a huge touchdown run from William Green, which is

a big run in Brown's history. The play by play called run William Run helps them win this game and potentially get into the playoffs. So you add a season that was started by Holcomb because of an injury to Couch. Couch plays, Okay, he gets hurt. Now here comes Kelly Holcomb and the Browns win a game. You think, ok, nine and seven, they make the playoffs. But this was that year where there were so many dominoes that had the fall in the final week for the Browns to

make the playoffs. Because nothing's easy for the brownch Right, they can't just win the final week and make the playoffs, right, they win, they lose their quarterback. They still had to hope that New England would beat Miami in the final week and the Jets would beat Green Bay. If that happened, the Browns make the playoffs. Well, New England beats Miami with a field goal and the Jets just route Green Bay, and so the Browns make the playoffs. And this is

how we needed to beat them to make it. And the Jets needed New England to beat Miami the final week two. And this wasn't like oh, the Patriots in the middle of the Super Bowl run there, No, this was boy Miami. They should win this game. And the Jets were losing the Green Bay early in the first quarter, and everybody in the stands was watching this game between New England and Miami. And New England kicks the field

goal to win. The entire crowd goes crazy. And it was during a penalty announcement on the Jets, like a fifteen yard penally on the Jets, and you hear the the the referee go, we have personal foul on the play, fifteen yards on the defense, and you hear this huge roar go up in the stadium and Jets players after the game said, we didn't know what was going on, like, why are they cheering a big penalty for us? Then they all got it, Oh, Miami must have lost New England.

We win this game, we make the playoffs. And from that potan it was a different game and my signal unleashed and the Jets just blow out the Packers. The Jets make the playoffs. This is Chad Pennington in his two thousand two year, which was he was like a video game. Wound up losing the Raiders in the playoffs that year, but it was like a video game that Jets, and it was so exciting. And oh, by the way, the Browns make the playoffs as a result of both

of these finishes going this way. So typical. This is how the Browns get in the playoffs. Fantastic finishes, Jets beating the Packers, I know, and we beat him pretty bad to h yeah, we it was awesome. Uh. And so now the Browns going to the playoffs with Kelly

holp them as their quarterback. Now Browns fans aren't so bummed because Holcom was always someone who was intrigued by Cleveland fans because in Spurts and Small Chances he played pretty well in the two games he started in two thousand and two, he threw for eight touchdowns in almost eight hundred yards. So this was a guy that the fans and the team thought, we know he can give us offense. They were excited to have this guy out there to go play. So it's Kelly Holcomb and Tommy

Maddox as we get set for a playoff game. That was the last time the Browns visited the postseason. How did it go? How did it unfold? We had heroes, we had goats, We had a hero turn into a goat. All coming up next right here on special teams. So we arrive at the a f C Wildcard game between the Browns and the Steelers in thrilling fashion, both teams taking different journeys to the postseason, both teams starting quarterbacks. They didn't think we're gonna be starting for them all.

This is where you had two guys who were Jags. They were just guys, and now suddenly here they are starting playoffs games. And what a playoff game. Both of the these guys had h The game starts with Joey Porter getting separated from Cleveland players pregame for joining, which you know that's Joey Porter. That's his act. That sounds about right, But it was Cleveland who came out big. Holcomb is slinging it early on. Kevin Johnson has a

huge day, hundred yards receiving. Uh. There's a long completion of Dennis north Cut to set up a touchdown. More on, Dennis north Cut coming up, Uh, touchdown past and north Cut made it fourteen nothing. It was all Cleveland. Tommy Maddox had thrown a couple of picks. Pittsburgh had no momentum at all until Antoine Randall l returns a punt

for a touchdown to make it fourteen seven. But clearly this was a game that not many people thought was gonna go this way, because look, Pittsburgh it's still won you know, ten games. The brown squeaked in at nine and seven, and here's Kelly Holcomb just throwing the ball all over the field early on. It's what are the Steelers doing? How are you getting torn up by Kelly

Holcomb in this game? Well, and that's always the wild card because you look at the two games during the regular season, Steelers wins both by three points UH and both low scoring affairs sixteen thirteen and then, which by NFL standards these days, Bah, that's an old, grinded out three yards in a cloud of dust kind of game with some of the pinball scoring we see these days.

But but certainly, uh, a little bit different, right playing Holcombe and seeing how they operated the offense versus perhaps well what you've seen from Tim Couch in the past, So maybe just a little bit of a split there. And then you know, big plays right off the jump. I mean your guy out of Syracuse, Kevin Johnson making the huge play on that opening possession, really kind of a punch in the face to the Steelers. Yeah, this

was this was unexpected. And after the Steelers get the punt return for a touchdown by Randall l you think, okay, maybe they'll settle back in the game. No, this is more attacking by the Browns. Uh. North Cut has a big sixty yard punt return, sets up a touchdown past to him twenty four seven. The Browns get out to this lead and north Cut has a huge day. He

goes for six nine, two and two touchdowns. Kind of stick a pinning that for now, because Dennis north Good comes back in a way that Browns fans here his name and go Dennis north Cut. But Holcom is incredible. He is He is just throwing the ball all over the field and the Steelers don't have a prayer stopping him. You know, you watched the tape of this game, and watching this game after as we're getting ready to this podcast, I'm going, boy, the Steelers really laid off in coverage.

You know, they they found you know, Holcom was able to find spots and and find and he was accurate as hell that day. He was great. But I felt like the Steelers could have been much more aggressive and gone after him, especially when you see, this is how we're gonna win the game. We're not gonna win by running the football. And I thought maybe they could have dialed things up a little bit better and made life

more difficult for him. But it didn't matter. He's comfortable, he's throwing the football and and and the Browns can do no at this point. Well, and that's I mean, that was the hallmark of those Steeler defenses still is right there, usually among the league leaders in sacks. Here, they got the Holcom once. I mean that that's a pretty big deal. When he drops back forty three times and you're only able to register one sack, and really

pressure was not consistent at all. He had time to work down field and find the creases for for Northcut to have himself a game. Andre Davis with a big catch as well a little bit of yak and already mentioned you know Kevin Johnson with that early catchy. I mean he finished with a hundred forty yards himself on four big plays. So I mean you're you're looking at work in the ball down field. Normally you don't have

time against the Pittsburgh defense. So credit the Cleveland offensive line for being able to hold up and let him stand tall. Yeah. So here the Dealers who are an eight point favorite, and suddenly now with the numbers, you're gonna man, I'm up thirty three seven. I'm feeling pretty good. Yeah, you're feeling pretty good about that, aren't you. One thing about this game the field was really torn up and it was to the point where you could see players

having struggling to find purchase and find footing. That never bodes well for a defense, never bodes well for really trying to run the football. Either. It bodes well for the passing game because the old adages the offense knows where the ball is going, the defense doesn't, and this is why you had huge games from both Maddox and Kelly holkm But here's where things changed, and the Browns, with all kinds of momentum, driving for what likely would

have been the final nail in the Coffin touchdown. It's too big a lead. The Steelers are not gonna come back. Kelly Holcom throws a pick in Pittsburgh territory, and this is where Tommy Maddox heats up. You talked about the Browns protecting hold them the way they did in the first half into the second half of this game, this is where things changed for the Steelers. As Tommy Maddox, I don't think the Browns were able to sniff him

during the second half of this game. They tried blitzing in, they tried laying off, they tried putting guys in coverage. It didn't matter. Maddox had all kinds of time to make all kinds of throws. Whether it was Plaxico, Burris Hines, Ward Randall l it didn't matter. Slowly, but surely Maddox would maneuver his way down the field and the Steelers get back in this game. And I am again watching this game. You go, man, that Brown just couldn't figure

out a way. Neither defense really figured out a way how to stop the other offense. But it was more pronounced in the second half of the Steelers because Tommy Maddox was just throwing darts all over the field started to find his stride to put a little bow on the Steelers. Uh. Stat total, they were third in the NFL with fifty sacks that year. Yet Kelly Holcombe stood

tall here in this playoff game. Now from there, we look at that drive right the seven of eight seventy yards they had one running play to Amos zero way. Uh yeah, we'll get him in later. We'll find out what he's up to. But Maddox toward to Jeremy Tuman too, Randall l spreading it around, finally burst with the touchdown a sudden you know, you get a little bit of in Cleveland, you go, wait a minute, we've had a

good run. Uh and now you've you're down four minutes remaining in the third quarter, and suddenly there's a little bit more of the pressure to get out and make plays. Showing also you know how long ago this is. But uh, showing the longevity of kickers. If you can do your job. When you can see Phil Dawson's uh in the box score. He went to went to school in Texas, was a you know, a guy that they had great, great hope for because well he was automatic. Just let Phil come

and do it. Uh. And there he was for Cleveland for all those years. No matter what the Browns did, they couldn't stem the tide of the Steelers. All right. Burris catches that touchdown, makes Browns kick a field goal. Tuman catches a touchdown pass from Tommy Maddox, the Browns get a touchdown pass from Holcombe to Andre Davis. It's thirty three twenty one, and the Browns are thinking, Okay,

we've done enough, we're putting them away. But no, this Dealers get down the field and Maddox strews a touchdown past the Hines Ward that cuts it to thirty three with three minutes left in the game. Now, if you're the Browns, okay, you've given this lead away. You can't stop Tommy Maddocks. You gotta hold on to the football and not give it back. This is how you're gonna win the game. This is what comes down to what is commonly known as the most famous drop pass in

Cleveland Brown's history. There's two forty nine left on the clock and the Browns couldn't run the football all day. All right, just let me just give let me give you this before we set up Dennis north cutt William Green, who was the number one running back on the team. We had the big touchdown run we told you in the final week of the regular season. His stats on the day were twenty five carries for thirty yards. Five

carries for thirty yards. Here's the best part. He had a twenty three yard carry, so that meetings his other twenty four carries amounted seven yards seven yards. He had a twenty three yard run, but the other twenty four carries went for seven yards. Now, you're trying to grind a lot of clocks, Smith, Yeah, but at some point, don't you realize, Okay, we're just we're just giving plays away. Don't we're just giving plays away? Hey, holkm you just

run it straight in the line. You can get more than the one eighth of a yard that William Green is getting. So you like to think that maybe they knew we have to outscore Pittsburgh. Right, we we can't just keep running the football and grinding clock. At some point, you would think they would disband the run. I'd say, all right, it's just it's really just not gonna happen

for it today. It really isn't. But no, they kept giving the ball to William Green and and and maybe this could have been a game where if they don't commit to the run that much, we talk about Kelly Holcom and his six touchdowns and the Browns three win over the Steelers, but instead we're talking about a thirty six, thirty three loss. You're looking for one of those Derrick Anderson uh crazy games from two thousand seven. That was a couple of years later he and Braylon and words

against Cincinnati. But not it went for nothing. Big thing the circle out of the box score here is that William Green, for all his touches, had two receptions. Right, Jamal White had five catches out of the backfield. But this is where if you're starting tailback and catch the ball at all, you know you can at least open it up and maybe get him a little running room

at another time, But not so fast here. So thirty three on the road Cleveland needs a first down to basically run out the clock again to forty nine on the clock. It's third and twelve. Holcomb, who has been throwing the football incredibly well. He winds up with a four yard day throwing the football find Dennis north Cut wide open. This is when Dennis north Cut was on the cusp of potential becoming one of the great game breakers in the NFL. Because he was fast, he was

able to get separation on the football. He looked like he could become one of the great weapons. There's no one behind him, no one behind Dennis north Cut, who cuts from the middle of the field towards the sideline, but he turns around a little too quickly, like he's expecting to get hit. Holcomb puts the football right where he has to. It's a perfect pass and north Cut's gonna catch this pass, turn it up feeling another ten

or fifteen yards. So suddenly the game is basically over because they're gonna be well on the Steelers side of the fifty yard line with the first down, getting down to the two minute warning. Except because he turns a little bit too fast, like he's expecting to get hit, he drops the football it falls right through his arms and the Browns have to punt on fourth down. It was like the life gut breathed back into Hindes Field.

Maddox slices the Browns up and down the field for a go ahead touchdown, a two point conversion, and they take a thirty six thirty three lead with just under a minute left to go. Chris Fumatu ma Fala, it would always say, he's a bad mom falla uh takes the touchdown on in for the lead, and then Jeremy Tuman actually catches a pass from Randall L. Remember this

is a big play for this. They would always have Randall L, who was a college quarterback in Indiana throw passes through a very famous touchdown pass in the Super Bowl. And Randall L throws the two point conversion of Jeremy Tumans. So it's a three point lead from Pittsburgh with just under a minute left to go, but the Browns are

getting the football back. I want to circle back to that possession for the Browns though, with the just under three minutes remaining, you had a play before the north cut play where Quincy Morrigan waiting forever for the ball to get there. Washington is able to get a hand in and separate him. Ball gets out the quicker from Kelly Holcomb. You got a big play and the Steelers are in trouble following play. Yeah, obviously they're looking around in the old let me start pumping my fists looking

for a flag that never comes. Holcomb incredulous, staring down the official and kind of staring blankly into the Steeler crowd, which now whipped into a frenzy. And you go to the Alcoa Fantastic finishes here ALCA presents fantastic finishes. Nah, yeah, so you know, and in television presented you make the call. I mean all our our childhood wrapped up here in the excitement of a playoff game that involves the Cleveland Browns.

But yes, the opportunity inside of a minute down three and a crowd that was dormant for much of the game. It's cold, it's miserable, and now it's all on the arm and Kelly home. This is where you'd expect. Okay, the Browns are gonna fold. This is where it just got too much for them. They couldn't make the playce no, no, In true Browns fashion, We're gonna get you even closer to the end before we break your heart again. Because it turns out the Browns maybe just needed one more

second on the clock to potentially win this game. Holcomb takes the Browns down the field, takes a little a bit of time to uh snap the ball after the Browns get a first down with thirty one seconds left, So there's twelve seconds go by from the Browns first down until Holcomb snaps the ball. Now, they could have spiked the ball, could have anything. But Holcomb calls for a play and completes a pass. Northcutt makes a big play and they have the ball at Pittsburgh's forty six

yard line with seven seconds left. Right now, it's too far for a field goal, even for Phil Dawson on this field, so they have to try to get a little bit closer and get out of bounds. This is what I mean by one more second, seven seconds left. Holcomb fades back and he throws a pass to Andre King, who catches the ball near the sideline Pittsburgh's thirty yard line. This is typical Browns and this is the Browns franchise in a nutshell. Holcomb completes the pass and Andre King

is open, but King has to stop. He can't keep going because it's an out pattern towards the sidelines. He has to stop for the football and as a result, he loses his footing, so he goes down on one knee to catch the ball. So now he's got to get up and run out of bounds because that's where the ball was. So Holcomb throws him the pass, but he can't catch it in stride or catch it standing up, where he could maybe get out of bounds a little bit faster. So he's got to get up. He dives

towards the sideline, doesn't get there in time. Clearly he doesn't get there, so even though it's a first down, the clock runs out. The Steelers win the game thirty six thirty three. They go on in the playoffs. Had the Browns had one more second on the clock, he dives out of bounds and Phil Dawson's trying to kick a forty seven yard field goal to send the game

to overtime. Had Holcim been able to throw the ball a little bit towards the sideline and Andre King not slip, they get out of bounds, maybe they're kicking a field goal. That's how close it was for the Browns. But instead they go out with a thirty six thirty three loss, despite Holcomb having a game of games four nine yards and three touchdowns. It was a big game for Tommy Maddox as well. Maddox is over three hundred yards. He

throws for three forty three. It was up and down, an aerial show, and the stealers just had enough and the Browns losing. You know what has been Brown's fashion now over the past few years. Oftentimes you can't win that third game against the team, right, they beat him twice around, No, they beat him three times during the season, each a three point win. I mean that is the ultimate in flipping off a divisional bones as you roll through.

But you know, one of those could you have communicated with the referee that I'm gonna catch it in the middle of the field and give myself up, so blow the whistle. Well it doesn't matter because the clock is gonna start with another second anyway. Yeah, it's more just the philosophical All right, what can we do here? Uh? To try to buy ourselves sometime I don't know, he's broken, uh and run Dawson out there. But yeah, the field was an absolute quagmire. It looked like they'd had lollapalooza

out there on Hines Field before the game. But just an amazing effort from two quarterbacks that are, you know, footnotes into history and in a lot of ways, right, I mean Kelly holk Ms right now, the the answer to a trivia question in Cleveland Baker Mayfield hoping to take that mantle from him as a playoff quarterback. Uh for Kevin Stefanski and company. And and Tommy Maddox, Oh, he's not just the guy that won you a lot

of money in the XFL. So how did it go for Tommy Maddox and Kelly holk m both of them at the tops of their professions. Well, coming up next, we'll tell you why moments in the sun can be a year, a month, or even one game. What happened next to both of these teams and both of these quarterbacks. That's next on special teams. What was now next for both of these teams after this legendary playoff game. Well, for the Steelers, they lost the Titans the next week.

They were eliminated from the playoffs thirty one. But Maddox played really well again. So now the Steelers, after all these years and Tommy Maddox being forty seven years old, finally he feels like he's the answer to the Steelers prayers at quarterback. But in two thousand three it fell apart form. Pittsburgh finished just six and ten. It was their first losing season at Hines Field. In fact, it was the most recent losing season by Pittsburgh up until

current times. All Right, that's amazing run when you say we don't have a losing season back to two thousand and three. But but yeah, but you match it up with the Browns, they don't get back to the Steelers don't have another losing Yeah, I know exactly. Yeah, I mean that. That's that. That was, that's kind of where um. But so after that, even though Maddox was okay in two thousand and three, Pittsburgh knew, all right, we need to change, we need we need to get something else

going on here on offense. So they draft Ben Roethlisberger in the first round of two thousand and four. Tommy Maddox wasn't happy, but they renegotiated his contract before week one because you can tell, all right, Roethlisberger is gonna be the future out of Miami of Ohio. But is he ready? He's young, he's raw. Maddox still played pretty well last year, but Pittsburgh ofference was only right twenty two in the league, so the dealers knew we needed

a change. Maddox starts the season but hurts his elbow in the second game. Ben Roethlisberger comes in and well, he hasn't given up the job since he leads Pittsburgh to the a f C Championship against New England as a rookie. Maddox would then back up Roethlisberger in two thousand five and got to play a little bit. But Bill Cower really wasn't a fan of maddox is anymore. In fact, at one point he got devoted to third string behind Charlie Batch. Uh. Pittsburgh didn't win the Super

Bowl over Seattle, but it's Roethlisberger at quarterback. Maddox who wins a Super Bowl, ring decides to not go to the White House with his teammates and never played in the NFL again. That's how it ended in a whirlwind for Tommy Maddox. You think he's the future right now? A year later, you'll lose your job to Ben Roethlisberger, you wind up with a super Bowl ring, and suddenly you never play in the NFL again after that. I mean that, that's that's the NFL for you drafted in leaves.

The league comes back is an insurance salesman has incredible highs. Then they draft another guy to replace you. You get money in a contract renegotiation, and then you're out of the league. I mean, that's some kind of journey. You had a good run man to be able to come back a couple of times. I mean, that's one of those feel good stories of redemption and reclaiming, uh the career you never had in Denver. That's not too bad. And let's face it, you can sign super Bowl champion

uh name forever. That's it's weak for him. Hey what do you play that year? Get bent? Get bent, get out of here. I mean that the Tommy Maddox, I mean begat. Ben Roethlisberg where taking this guy in the first round. And you know, you got to give the Steelers credit because they knew when to pull the plug on Cordell, because Cordell never really went on to do anything else in the NFL. They knew when to pull the plug on Tommy Maddox because they got Ben Roethlisberger

in here. They are no losing seasons since Tommy Maddocks was the quarterback. That's the triviar question. He's gonna aswer to who was the starting quarterback the last losing season the Steelers. Oh that's Tommy Maddox. Oh alright, great, so you know the Steelers knew when to make those moves. Meanwhile, for the Browns, things went a little bit differently because

they had a lot of excitement. Look, they lose this game, but like, hey, the Browns are back and maybe Kelly Holcom is the next Dan Marino and open competition the following year for the starting quarterback job in Cleveland. Holcomb wins it, but he winds up getting hurt and that lets Tim Couch start some games. But it really didn't matter because Tim Couch at that point goes from number one overall picking the draft to having his NFL career

the end of it staring him in the face. He was waived after the following year due to arm injuries, and he never played in the NFL again. Now, partly for Tim Couch, boy you think, boy, if he was able to stay healthy, but still he had a long time to establish himself in the National Football League. Could he have hung on as a backup for a lot of years, Yeah, he could have done that because he played well enough as it started to say, okay, you get a guy with starting experience who can stay in

the NFL's a backup, but those arm injuries. Tim Couch was the present, the future. Then he was out and suddenly the Browns wanted to turn to Kelly Holcomb and it didn't work out for Holcom, which we're gonna get to, but for Tim Couch it was Boy, this was the ride for him out of the National Football League where you look back and go it wasn't that long ago. He was the face of our franchise and in a

year that he really got us to the playoffs. Because it's not like Kelly Holkm was phenomenal all season long. I mean the Browns the teeth of the season. Tim Couch played well enough to get the Browns to the cusp of the playoffs and and they wind up getting in and you think, Okay, finally it's here for the guy. His moment is here now, and it just never even happened for him. He couldn't even win the job going

into the next year. Yeah, I mean you look at his career post Roy for the return of football to Cleveland, all the hype, right, so much excitement UH in branding around him, and then you you look at the overall career marks UH sixty four, touchdown sixty seven I n t s, a number of comeback attempts, UH, including a cup of coffee with the Jaguars as a practice squad guy. The Packers had a tryout with the Bears. Just go on down the line. It was the al right, he

was the number one overall pick. One of us is going to be able to figure out what's what the deal is, right, workouts in Miami, Pittsburgh, Houston, and Tennessee. May just think about that. The number of looks the Bengals UH going all the way through because you had John Kitten and whether he was gonna come back or not at that point, and then eventually with the philadel

Alfhia soul hanging out with Jon bon Jovi. So, I mean a lot of different things on the career owing to the fact that if you're a guy selected that high and there's always that curiosity of is it is it a mental thing? Is it a system thing? Is it a communication thing? Who's going to be the guy and everybody thinks you're the smartest guy in the room, that they're going to figure out what that missing pieces, uh and give him the career based on what you

saw those years ago at Kentucky. But for Kelly Holcum, that was as good as it was gonna get. He goes into two thousand three, thirty year old starting quarterback and Cleveland fans are expecting all kinds of great things. This from a guy who, after his first year in the NFL and with the Cults, was out of the league until the Browns brought him back in two thousand and one. So he kind of had the same kind of Tommy Maddock's journey to the NFL. But hey, maybe

he's got it. Maybe just took him a little bit of time. He hadn't played a lot in the NFL, but he really underwhelmed. In two thousand and three. He started eight games, As we said, he had injury problems, ten touchdowns, twelve picks, and his moment in the sun had ended. He went on to start a handful of games for the Bills and the Minnesota Vikings a couple of years later, but was out of the league in

two thousand and seven. This is what I mean by sometimes your moment in the sun as a quarterback can be a year, it can be a month, it can be a game. But that hype behind Kelly Holcom, hey, he's he lives forever in Cleveland because of what he did being that quarterback. No one blames him for the loss. He played as well as you could possibly play as a quarterback in the playoff. But this is how it goes sometimes, and sometimes guys are backups for a reason.

Sometimes guys never get a chance and they show you how good they can be. But here's Kelly Holcom. It's like his whole career built towards this game, and then after this game it's slowly just built away, kind of like one of those curves where it gets all the way up to the middle and then it slowly comes down like a mountain curve. Because that's really what Kelly holkms was. He didn't have no zero highlights after this game, but ill it wasn't nearly what it was, and he

was slowly the downward trajectory to the end of his career. Yeah, but he gets to have the wall of jerseys, including the Barcelona Dragons in the world page. I mean, right, he got that, the Bucks, the Colts, the Browns, the Bills, he never played for him, but he can add an Eagles one when he got traded there. He got the Vikings and eventually retires. I mean, that's a pretty good run.

That's not a bad run at all for a guy out of Middle Tennessee State, right who for his career, I mean, here's his senior year ready, fifty four yards, fifteen touchdowns, nine interceptions. Is he finding the NFL at any point at this point in time with those kind of stats. No, his junior year seven touchdowns, six picks, and seventeen hundred yards, nine touchdowns, six picks, hundred yards as a sophomore, no chance he's ever getting a sniff.

But here was able to be in the league with you know, career yards, thirty nine touchdowns, thirty eight picks and over the course of twelve thirteen years, cup of coffee and a number of stops, and still holding the distinction as being the last Cleveland Playoffs quarterback. I'll take it now. Normally we finished with where are they now? But Mike has already told you about what happened to

some of the players. And this really should be the coda to this story for the Cleveland Browns, because as the Browns now are looking for answers at quarterback in different positions across the board. Butch Davis, who also holds the distinction as the most recent head coach to take the Browns of the playoffs because of this game in two thousand and three, was out as Brown's head coach

during the two thousand and four season. Butch Davis, who had succeeded greatly at Miami and did great things to get the Browns to the playoffs in two thousand and two, just a short year and a half later, he is out as he resigns following a fifty eight forty eight loss to the Cincinnati Bengals. Right there, the offense plays well, the defense just gets uh rooked up and down the field, so he resigns. There's a bit of a discrepancy over

whose idea it was. Was it Butch Davis resigning under pressure? Was he told to resign or was this Butch Davis saying listen, I am done I can't do this anymore because look, after the two thousand and two season, the Browns hadn't really played that well, and Butch Davis was in charge of the franchise and charge a lot of the personnel decisions, and things weren't going well. But it was still surprised that he resigned in the middle of the season with a three and eight record. The Browns

will tell you that this was completely Butch Davis. Team president John Collins said, this was Butch's decision. I'm personally disappointed. But he had his agent called the Browns and say that there was a lot of pressure that he felt from the fans and the media. So wait a minute, Wait a minute, wait a minute. Was the brown tell him to resign and they're playing it off like it was his idea? Or was Butch Davis really under too much pressure from the fans and the media to continue

on as Brown's head coach. Can you imagine that headline now, like a coach resigning the middle of the season. Why, well, the fans and the media on my case, so I'm stepping down. Oh my goodness, how would you spend that? Like if that's the story that gets out there's just no coming back from that. I don't think you could, right, I mean, because think about the time frame that we're at here. This is I mean, the internet is churning. I was in the middle of my run at Yahoo.

Are starting to write full time and starting to do some video hits and and what have you. Maybe an occasional radio spot. But like it, it was nowhere near. We didn't have all these social media spheres where there's no chance you're able to pull that back. As soon as words like that gets out, forget about it. There's no one ringing that belt. He I mean, he's only coached at North Carolina and f i U since right, so never at the top of the game like he

was in Miami and the collegiate ranks. But you're not getting another coaching job anywhere. Maybe you left because the fans were Meetnia. Come on, I mean, he sent his his wife and his kid back to Florida after he was booed off the field, like they lost the Jets. They lost the home game to the Jets. Ten course seven fact of the Jets, and it always does. Everything comes back to the Jets, and he had to send

his family away. Listen, it's too it's too much right now with what's going on with with with the pressure on me. So he sends his family back to Florida because it was it was growing in Cleveland. What's gonna happen with Butch Davis? And maybe because he resigned the way he did, maybe because he needed a break. I mean, he doesn't coach again for another three years, and as

you said, it's North Carolina where he returns to. I mean this this should have been, Hey, Butch Davis finishes the year, it's not working, he resigns or they fire him, and hey, I'm gonna go someplace big in coach. But he was out of the game for three years after this. Yeah, just curious, right of. I would love a little um. You don't need a full thirty minutes on it, but give me a segment. The hell happened? I mean, what really happened in that? I mean, it was was something

brewing at home that you needed to attend to. Right. Did the booing of dad, you know, cause some some issues and and I mean what was there more than booing? I mean, we know fans can get a bit unruly. Now we have thick glass because of Cleveland fans reacting to some some words out of the studios that we work out of. So you know, there there's certainly, you

know a lot more to that. But for Butch Davis, I mean, I'm sitting here, I've got a case of mini helmets from my days in Northern California in front of me where they had the East West Shrine Game all those years. You know, got a chance to meet Brady coming out of Michigan and you always had these great coaches and Butch Davis came one year, great conversation. Still have a nice beautiful mini helmet sun by him. That's part of the the archives of another lifetime ago.

But always thought he'd be back on top somewhere. But the media and fan thing uh certainly puts the uh and smashes that down. So Butch Davis, the future was so bright for him in the Browns, and a year and a half later after a lot of his personalized draft picks that he made really underperformed, including we mentioned William Green, but there are other guys he picked two that just never really stepped up and and and made

headway in the NFL. And you're gonna need that. You can't keep drafting guys early on that don't wind up progressing. They at least have to be contributors. Right. They don't have to be stars in every case, but you at least need guys, you know, in those middle rounds that are at least functional, rotational guys on the defensive side of things. Man, look at what happened in all those years. We talk about the Seahawks a lot as a benchmark

of how in organization is to be run. Uh. And yes they got more stars, but you at least had most of the back end draft picks at least sticking on a roster. Here in Cleveland. It just became a yearly running joke of all right, we're gonna draft ten. What's the percentage to stick around this year? Right? And all the way through you finally have the quote unquote breakthrough and that's a seven eight and one season. This was the last Browns performance in the playoffs in team history.

Performance typical Browns though, right, I mean this is this is Browns. It's typical Browns. I mean that takes you to the edge, think that you're about to get over, uh, and then have that rug taken out from underneath you absolutely so, that was it now? Baker Mayfield, good luck. This is what This is the season you have to live up to the Topsy Turvy two thousand three campaign

for the Cleveland Browns. Uh. If you have an idea for a future episode of Special Teams, hey hit us up on Twitter at how about a Fresco or at Swollen Dome Jason Smith, Mike Harmon. Our show is heard every night radio show on Fox Sports Radio ten BM to two am on the East coast, seven to eleven on the West coast. If you like what you heard here, give us five stars. Make sure you rate us on your way out. We'll talk to you next week. You know. By the way, if he didn't like what we said,

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